NEA president comments on Senate action on rewrite of ESEA

WASHINGTON - April 07, 2015 -

U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today released a draft to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), more commonly known as No Child Left Behind. The announcement comes on the eve of the law’s 50th anniversary on April 11. Educators, students, and families are demanding that Congress get ESEA right this time by ushering in a new and improved vision for our nation’s public schools.

NEA President Lily Eskelsen García issued the following statement:

“The Senate releasing an ESEA draft is movement but we will review the bill with a fine tooth comb looking for language that ushers in a new vision for our nation’s students and public schools; a vision that promotes equity and excellence for all students regardless of the zip code in which they live.

“We are also looking for concrete steps that remedy opportunity gaps for students and fix the broken test, label, and punish regime instituted under No Child Left Behind. We want to see a bill that goes a long way to empower educators – as trusted professionals – to make classroom and school decisions to ensure student success.

“In the end, when all is said and done, the fundamental question that lawmakers have to grapple with is, what will this bill do differently for students in classrooms and schools across America if it’s signed into law? Did Congress get ESEA right for students? These are the questions to which we are searching responses as we review the bipartisan draft bill of ESEA.”

Follow us @NEAMedia #getESEAright

The National Education Association (www.nea.org) is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.

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